I can't wait to slip on my Little Black Dress this Christmas: Last year I wore a tent!

Festive frump: Kellie Homan reveals her real life story of how she's lost three stone in time for some Christmas cheer

Thanks to a healthy diet plan, Kellie Homan will be slipping into a tight Little Black Dress this party season.

And if you need inspiration to fit into your your festive frock, here’s Kellie’s story.

Every year Kellie dreaded Christmas dos and more often that not would be the first one out the door towards the end of the night.

“I hated the way I looked,” says the 24-year-old shop assistant. “I was fat and my friends looked amazingly slim in all these little party dresses. I used to wear a long top to cover up my bum.

“It used to be really depressing. And if I turned up at a party in the first place, I’d never stay long at all. All I wanted to do was to go home and hide away.”

But this December she can’t wait to slip on her sexy LBD ­because over the past year she’s lost ­almost three stone – dropping from over 14st to 10st 7lb and from a size 18 to a slinky 10.

And she’s finally realising how fabulous she looks – her new ­slimline shape hasn’t gone unnoticed by her friends.

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Sparkling: Now Kellie can't wait to show off her new body-con dress

“Whenever I said I looked fat, they would all agree with me. Now they say how good I look. It’s a nice reversal!

“I feel like I’ve become a different person. I’m happier now and I’m a lot more bubbly too,” she says.

Her new size 10 LBD – a sexy ­body-con number – has been hanging in the wardrobe for weeks, ready for her work’s Christmas party next month.

And this time, she wants to have a blast and be one of the last people to leave.

“I want to dance until I drop,” Kellie laughs.

“I would definitely not have worn an LBD last year – I think I wore a tent!

“Hopefully this year, I’ll give the girls I work with a run for their money, although I haven’t seen what they’re wearing yet.”

Kellie, from Bedford, believes she started having weight problems after ­comfort-eating to cope with being bullied as a teenager.

Then, once she started working, overeating became a habit that was made worse by boredom and office-based jobs. Her downfalls are too well known by most of us – takeaways and junk food. “I loved pastries and I never touched a single vegetable,” Kellie says: I tried crash diets but they never worked.”

Her rapid weight gain made her extremely unhappy, robbing her of any remaining self-confidence.

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Shy: Kellie hated nights out as she felt too big

Plus, because she works in a Thorntons chocolate shop, temptation was ­literally around every corner, every day: “I was surrounded by chocolate all the time and I’d buy loads and just scoff it all really.”

But the turning point came last December, when even her size 16 work trousers became a bit too tight to fasten up. Kellie recalls: “I thought to myself ‘I’m going to have to buy a size 18’. Then I got on the scales and I saw that I was over 14st.”

So she signed up for her local Slimming World in January and, thanks to its healthy eating plan, has since lost a huge 2st 10lbs.

Best of all, she has not touched pastries since. “I thought if I was going to do it properly, they had to go,” she says.

Kellie eats three meals a day with lean cuts of steak, ­chicken and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. “Fruit is my new snack whereas before I’d have crisps or cake,” she says. “I’ve also discovered that ­vegetables aren’t that bad.”

With Christmas just around the corner, she feels she won’t be tempted to start nibbling. “I like buffet food and crisps at parties, but I won’t go crazy. Fortunately I don’t like mince pies,” she smiles.

Kellie advises anyone trying to watch their weight over Christmas to be careful what they eat. “It’s a tempting time with food everywhere, but it’s important to know when to stop eating.”

Her weight loss has brought new self-confidence and Kellie has ­started studying for a social work degree at Peterborough University.

“I’d never have dared to apply before because I’d have been too nervous to be able to do the course interview,” she says.

She’s also found she now loves shopping too – at high street stores such as New Look and Quiz Clothing.

“I used to wear baggy T-shirts with jumpers and leggings, but now I love colours I have lots of sparkly sequined dresses in my wardrobe ready for all those Christmas parties.”

And she can’t wait to enjoy the party season after years of hard work. Kellie says: “I’m too busy to date at the moment but who knows who I will end up meeting underneath the mistletoe?”

Follow Kellie’s LBD diet

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How the plan works

With this plan, you’ll lose weight without ever going hungry.

By choosing foods that are low in calories and fat yet keep you feeling full – fruit and vegetables, pasta, potatoes, fish, poultry, pulses, eggs and lots of fat-free yoghurts – you can eat as much as you like to satisfy your appetite.

Five steps to success

1. Start the plan on any day and enjoy meals in any order. For more recipe ideas over more days, see slimmingworld.com. Carry on for as long as you need to lose weight.

3. Each day choose 375ml skimmed/250ml semi-skimmed milk, 30g full-fat hard cheese/ 45g reduced-fat hard cheese. Daily portions of fibre have been built into meal choices. Stick to one portion of milk or cheese, and bread or cereal a day.

4. Trim all visible fat off meats and remove skin from poultry.

5. Aim to drink between six and eight glasses of water, sugar-free drinks, tea and coffee a day.

Day 1

Breakfast: Very berry porridge: 35g of porridge oats prepared with water or milk depending on your allowance. Stir in lots of mixed berries (fresh or thawed from frozen) and swirl in fat-free natural yoghurt. Add some artificial sweetener to taste.

Lunch: Jacket and beans: Jacket potato topped with baked beans. Serve with a large mixed salad and enjoy a fresh fruit salad for afters.

Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese (serves 4): place 2 chopped onions, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 diced carrots, 1 chopped celery stick and 300ml beef stock in a pan. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add 450g extra-lean minced beef and cook until browned. Add 300ml more beef stock, 400g can chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato puree, chopped basil, seasoning, a pinch of sweetener and bring back to the boil. Cover and simmer until reduced and season to taste before serving on top of cooked spaghetti.

Lunch: Tuna nicoise salad: salad of boiled new potatoes, cooked green beans, ­hard-boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, red onion and tuna chunks (canned in spring water, drained). Mix lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to make a dressing and drizzle over salad. Serve topped with some fresh basil leaves and season. Then have an apple and a pear.

Dinner: Pea and gammon risotto (serves 4): chop 1 celery stick, 1 large onion and dice a large smoked gammon steak. Heat a large frying pan and cook the celery, onion and gammon for five minutes over a medium-high heat. Stir in 320g dried risotto rice and 700ml chicken stock and simmer. Cover with a lid, stirring occasionally and cook for 20 minutes. Add 170g frozen peas in the final couple of minutes and enjoy with a mixed salad.

Lunch: Chunky minestrone soup (serves 4): chop 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 celery stick, 2 garlic cloves and 4 slices of smoked back lean bacon. Cook in low-calorie cooking spray in a large saucepan. Add 400g can chopped tomatoes, 410g can cannellini beans, 60g dried spaghetti (broken into pieces) and 700ml water. Season and simmer for five minutes. Chop ¼ savoy cabbage, stir in and cook for five minutes. Remove from the heat and with chopped parsley sprinkled on the top. Then enjoy an orange and a banana.

Breakfast: 1 pan fry-up: fry an egg or two with low-calorie cooking spray in a large pan, then saute diced potatoes. Serve with grilled lean bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans. Then have a punnet of grapes.

Lunch: Open prawn sandwich: mix together cooked prawns, lime juice, chopped tomatoes, fat-free natural fromage frais and 1 level tbsp extra-light mayonnaise and seasoning. Top 2 slices of wholemeal bread with watercress and the prawn topping. Then have a banana.

Dinner: Gammon and chips: make healthy chips by cutting potatoes into chips and boiling for 10 minutes. Then dry and place on a baking tray. Spray with low-calorie cooking spray and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes at 200C/400F/Gas 6. Enjoy with a grilled lean gammon steak, grilled tomatoes and peas.